The Drop by Jeff Ross Read Free Book Online Page B

that fluffed out beneath her helmet.
    â€œSorry,” she said. But I didn’t mind. She actually smelled pretty nice.
    We peeled away from the cabin toward the chute in the woods and then to the drop. We went straight toward it rather than weaving around, as we had the day before. It only took about twenty minutes.
    The rushing waves of snow were still washing the edge of the drop. I wondered if they ever stopped. There was almost no wind where we stood. “You shouldn’t be doing this, guys,” Sam said. “It’s just not safe. And anyway, what are you going to do if you find Bryce? Or what if you don’t find him? Then what? You can’t get back up the drop. That’s just not an option.” He shook his head as he spoke.
    â€œI guess we should just stay in the cabin then?” Hope said. “Wait for the food to run out? Or what’s your other idea? Someone will come and find us? There has to be something at the bottom of this mountain. A road or—or something .” She pointed at the drop. “Just show us where it isn’t that much of a fall.” Sam looked up and down the length of the drop.
    â€œI don’t know,” he said.
    â€œYes, you do,” I said. “You told us you did.”
    â€œNot exactly,” he replied. “I know a general area. But if I’m wrong, you’ll just…fall.”
    â€œWhere?” I demanded. Hope had slid off the snowmobile and unhooked her snowboard. Sam looked up and down the drop again. Then he pointed.
    â€œYou can’t do this. You could both be killed,” Sam said.
    â€œWe can’t just sit here and wait for someone to find us either,” I said. “And anyway, Bryce could be in serious trouble. Don’t you want to help him?”
    Sam shook his head. He was looking at the drop as though it might reach out and grab him.
    â€œSomeone needs to stay at the cabin in case Bryce comes back,” he said. He looked sad. As though he wished he was capable of more than he was. Finally he just pointed. “Right there,” he said.
    â€œAre you sure?” Hope asked. She had her backpack over her shoulders, her fluffy pink sleeping bag tied to the top. It made her look a foot taller than she was.
    â€œYeah. Right there. It’s probably no more than five feet down. Maybe ten. I think.”
    â€œYou’re not positive?” She had her board on now. I pulled my snowboard off the back of the snowmobile and put my feet in the bindings.
    â€œAs far as I can remember. But it’s been a long time since I went over there.” He looked sad again as he stared at the drop. I had my snowboard strapped on and was beating my hands together trying to get blood pumping through my body.
    â€œRight there?” Hope said again, staring at Sam.
    â€œLike I said, it’s been awhile. But, yeah, I think so.” The spot they were pointing at was about fifteen feet down the hill. It looked like any other spot.
    â€œAll right,” Hope said. Then she clapped her pink gloves together, tightened her goggles and leaned forward to get moving. She did one quick turn just past the snowmobiles and then shot straight past the place Sam had pointed out. She did a quick turn, carved along the edge of the drop, cut out and back in, and then disappeared into the wash of white.
    It was entirely silent after she disappeared. Then the moaning started up again. It seemed like the mountain had swallowed her. Sam was just staring at the drop—at the empty space Hope had left behind her.
    â€œDo something, Sam!” I said. “She missed the spot.”
    â€œWhat am I supposed to do?” Sam yelled back.
    I climbed up the hill to where Hope had started her run. “We have to go get her.”
    Sam shook his head. “She made a choice. I told both of you that you were on your own if you decided to go over that drop.”
    â€œYou mean all three of us,” I said.